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A/Ibom Govt. Earmarks N59m To Tackle Malnutrition

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The Akwa Ibom State government has expressed its readiness to partner the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) in the promotion of good nutritional regime for the young ones.

In line with this policy, N59million has been budgeted for micro-nutrient supplement under the Save One Million Lives (SOML) programme of government.

Towards effective implementation of the policy, the wife of Governor Udom Emmanuel, Martha, has said she would soon launch a State-wide enlightenment and sensitization programme across the 31 Local Government Areas, “where all mothers will be educated and empowered to feed the growing child correctly”.

She spoke yesterday in Uyo, the State capital at the opening of a two-day advocacy meeting for women policy makers and wives of policy makers organized by the State government in partnership with UNICEF.

The Governor’s wife, who was inducted as the number one nutrition champion in the State, said through her pet project, the Family Empowerment and Youths Re-orientation Progamme (FEYREP), said she was embarking on mechanized farming for food sufficiency and affordability.

She lamented that millions of children were prone to avoidable sicknesses and death due to malnutrition and poor diet, and enjoined the women to take into mass farming to beat the impending food shortage occasioned by the ongoing recession period.

“FEYREP is going into mechanized agriculture for mothers to have enough food for the children”, she stressed and assured that government was committed to ensure adequate budgetary provision and enforcement for the implementation of child feeding project.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong, lamented the low investment in nutrition as compared to the problem and stressed the need for a holistic action plan to overcome the scourge of malnutrition in the State.

“Mobilizing resources needed to accelerate progress against malnutrition will therefore require that countries, donors, businesses, innovative financing, and even households must act in State’s solidarity to tackle the problem”, he said.

The UNICEF nutrition specialist, Mr. Wilbroad Ngambi, underscored the importance of scaling up funding of nutrition programmes for the young ones to meet the UNICEF standard, and called on all relevant stakeholders to be in the vanguard of addressing the problem.

Prof. Henrietta Ene-Obong of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Cross River State lamented that 60 percent of the population lives below poverty line and called for improved budget for agriculture and feeding programmes to enhance good nutritional regime among the populace.

“No budget line for nutrition”, she stressed and blamed government for low priority paid to issues of agriculture and feeding in the country”.

 


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